I just registered after switching my drivers license online from graduated to operator. But after I clicked "yes I want to register as a donor", it didn't prompt me to do anything else. Am I now under "donor" status? Or do I have to fill out something else before it goes through?

I haven't gotten any emails or anything like that.

Oh also, Can they turn my upper chest and head into a cured bust when I die?

Not a pleasant thought either, but at least have that conversation with family, worst comes to worst, if that should happen, your family will know what you want to do, and should respect it.

Remember, under certain religious traditions, Judaism and Catholicism come to mind, doing that means destroying the body and ruining your chances of coming back to life... and yes I have had some hilarious conversations with very religious people regarding this... usually involving Holocaust victims, or bombing victims.

But if any in the family is somewhat orthodox from a faith that sees this as sacrilege... better have that conversation now.

no, they are not orthodox but in his belief system you do not do this. Hell, the Israeli Red Cross has a hell of a time getting blood from orthodox Jews, they don't even go into organ donation... not a subject you touch with the orthodox.

Well I, and my brother who is an MD told him that if that happened we were registered organ donors, him in OH me in California.

He didn't like it, but agreed to respect it.

My mom is very ambivalent about it, and no, they are not that religious. Though in their later years she has found a little more comfort in the faith, while I have grown even more distant. And that is fine, perhaps that will change over the coming decades.

When my dad fell and broke his hip, the LW included a question on that. We of course marked him NOT as a donor, since we know he doesn't want to, or believes in it. So no, we would not do that period.

Trust me it was a hard conversation to have, but my parents, and my brothers and sister know my wishes, as well as my hubby. One reason we had that talk... the many patients I took to the hospital.

I do advise people to have that talk, and if your opinion changes, things do change after all, have it again, and if you did a LW, redo it.

27. My husband was very troubled by my pro-donor attitude when we were first together...

... but I told him that I would respect his wishes regarding the disposition of his own remains and would expect him to respect mine. He's not at all observant, but it's definitely culturally inculcated, isn't it? After many, many years during which we occasionally discussed this he changed his mind. I still don't think he personally wants to be a donor, but now he does respect and even approves of my desires. Which is pretty much all that anyone can hope for.

should, heaven forbid, anything bad happen to you and you couldn't make your own decisions as to what your care should be - like a Schiavo case - let me know. I have exactly what you would need, and I can email it to you....................

Even when you have designated yourself on your driver's license, the hospital will almost certainly still ask your family for consent. If you have told them, it will be easier for them to let the process move forward.

As to living will - you asked below - yes. As soon as you are an adult, if you care about whether you will be kept alive and by what means, you should have one. I am embarrassed to say that, even though I've helped quite a few people fill them out it wasn't until my daughter had her colonsocopy this year - a year into adult-hood - and the hospital asked her if she had one that I realized she didn't (and worse, that we hadn't talked about what life prolonging measures she might or might not want taken).

26. Back in 1974 I had to register and have a card signed by 2 witnesses. Now all I have to do is...

... affix a pink dot that says Donor to my driver's license. I find that a little weird because the dot can so easily be scraped off, but at least I have let my husband and grown kids know my desires.

Plan A is for me to use up all my parts my own self and die at 120. Plan B is that if anything useful is left over, I certainly won't need it where I'm going and it might as well help out someone else.

My grandparents (already) and my parents when they die have left their bodies for research (to the extent they are too old for organ donation) to the medical center associated with the university my grandfather taught at and from which my parents graduated.

My grandparents cremated remains were returned to us a couple of years after they died, and they were spread about the base of tree planted in my grandfather's honor (he was the first to die) in our yard. I'd say their bodies were well used.

Our donor "bug" is printed on the license by the state and under the lamination. It's not going anywhere!

30. well, for some it is against their religion. i used it in an argument about

abortion... i wasn't really referring to abortion, but what happens when we allow groups to legislate their relgious beliefs. If we did that in the case of abortion, then other groups who are religiously opposed to organ donation and blood tranfusions could make it so we can't get that federally funded as well. It made sense to me. But I forget that these folks think that their beliefs are the only legitimate ones and therefore must just discount anyone else's beliefs. But I didn't know orthodox jews were against donating organs.... I only knew jehovah witnesses believe that blood and organs are part of your soul and therefore they must stay with your body.... but I've never heard of any of them trying to force that on everyone else. See, if a person believes that, then I respect it...

I would hope that if a person wants to donate, even if their family disagrees, that they would respect those wishes. I know my family would respect mine... we believe in organ donation. My mom had a kidney transplant in the 80s.... her body rejected it, but she did get a chance at least. I often wonder if it were today instead of back then if it would have worked better.... advances and all. I remember going to the dialysis with her and the room full of people who were there for the same reason. as a 10 year old, I noticed when people were no longer there... I would draw pictures and stuff for them... It was hard to see when some of them had died.

There was a multicar accident here about a week or so ago. They did a whole story about one car in flames and how bystanders pulled a man and two kids out of the car. There was a 9 year old boy who was in serious or crtitical condition. The boy ended up dying... but the family donated his organs and turned a tragedy into a positive thing. They said that a miracle happened... it wasn't the miracle we wanted, but.... something about all the lives that their son saved. It was very touching to hear the family whose hearts must have been breaking trying to make it a positive thing....

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